


from start to finish

by ForestFiresong



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: College AU, M/M, written for the tsukkiyamasecretsanta over on tumblr!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-12 06:02:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13541247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForestFiresong/pseuds/ForestFiresong
Summary: Yamaguchi sighs, his breath forming a cloud in the cold morning air. “Tsukki, I wish we had a cute meeting story like that.”Tsukishima frowns, pushing his glasses up his nose where they had been sliding down. “What do you mean? Our meeting story was perfectly cute.”“Was it?” Yamaguchi says. “Because I was scared of you the first two months I knew you.”“What was there to be scared of? We just sat next to each other in class--”“And then when we first started talking, it was in the most unromantic way ever.”“I don’t know what you’re complaining about,” Tsukishima says loftily. “I mean, we’re together now, right?”--In which Yamaguchi and Tsukishima reflect on their nearly two years of dating, which involve both frequent visits to animal shelters and nearly lethal doses of caffeine that somehow combine to make a stable relationship. Somehow.





	from start to finish

**Author's Note:**

  * For [timelessidyll](https://archiveofourown.org/users/timelessidyll/gifts).



> happy holidays ren!! (even tho it's nearly february) i tried to combine all 3 of your prompts into one fic and while i did manage to get them all in there, it might've turned out a bit too all-over-the-place... still, i hope you enjoy it! apologies for the semi-late upload!

“I’m so happy for Kiyoko and Yachi!”

“They’re certainly cute together. Basically a fairy-tale couple, based on how they met.”

“I  _ know. _ I mean, running into the senpai you had a crush on in high school two years later as a barista in a coffee shop that you visit every morning? It couldn’t be more of a rom-com.” Yamaguchi sighs, his breath forming a cloud in the cold morning air. “Tsukki, I wish  _ we _ had a cute meeting story like that.”

Tsukishima frowns, pushing his glasses up his nose where they had been sliding down. “What do you mean? Our meeting story was perfectly cute.” 

“Was it?” Yamaguchi says. “Because I was scared of you the first two months I knew you.”

“What was there to be scared of? We just sat next to each other in class--”

“And then when we first started talking, it was in the most unromantic way ever.”

“I don’t know what you’re complaining about,” Tsukishima says loftily. “I mean, we’re together now, right?” 

“I guess,” Yamaguchi replies, giving him a teasing shove. “Still…”

“I don’t even remember when we first started talking, to be honest.”

“Really, Tsukki?” Yamaguchi lets out a long suffering sigh, although he’s not entirely sure he remembers either. “Ok, I think it went something like this…”

* * *

 

Yamaguchi is beginning to get worried.

He’s seen depths of exhaustion, both on his friends’ faces and reflected back to him from a mirror. He’s seen wear and collapse brought on by cram school and volleyball exams, by the endless studying for high school and college entrance exams. He’s been tired, but watching his classmate enter the lecture hall is making him doubt if he even knows what “tired” means. 

Tsukishima Kei looks absolutely miserable. 

And yes, Yamaguchi knows his name, which he most certainly heard in passing and not because he was straining his ears because he was too afraid to ask for it himself. 

The thing is, Tsukishima is one of those people for whom the saying “if looks could kill” most definitely applies. Not only does he have the height advantage on his side, but the way his amber eyes stare impassively over his glasses gives him an air of aloofness and pure intimidation. At the beginning of the semester, when Yamaguchi was afraid of approaching people and even more afraid of offending him, the way Tsukishima’s gaze would always land on him during class sent shivers down his spine, as if he was constantly being appraised for a crime or something. As the semester wore on, he learned that Tsukishima just had an unfortunate habit of staring into space and that he just always happened to be the target. Now  Yamaguchi is less scared of him; now he wouldn’t be too timid to ask him for his name, or for a pencil, or to borrow some notes, which he does, at least semi-frequently. He knows that Tsukishima is a nice guy, at least probably, and there’s nothing intimidating about him, at least not entirely. 

Well, until now. 

Because right now, Tsukishima is dropping into his seat and slamming his bag by his side. He looks tired, but not a sleepy sort of tired; he looks as if he pulled an all-nighter filled with pure rage. Without a word, he pulls out a thermos and takes a long, measured sip. 

Yamaguchi doesn’t exactly want to get his head bitten off but he’s starting to get scared that Tsukishima just killed a man, or something, so as people begin to flood into the crowded lecture hall, he leans over and chooses his words carefully. “Are you… okay?”

Tsukishima jolts like he didn’t even notice that Yamaguchi was there. Shifting his gaze slightly, he takes another sip from his thermos. “Oh, I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“Why do I ask?” Yamaguchi tries not to sound too incredulous. “Well… you look kind of tired.”

“Ah.” Tsukishima shuts his eyes. “I suppose I am a bit tired. I had a bit of a rough night last night.”

The thought of Tsukishima being a wild partier seems both hilarious and wildly improbable, but Yamaguchi can’t rule anything out. “Did something happen?” 

“It’s just my roommates,” Tsukishima says, rubbing his temples. “There are four of us, and two of them-- well, they’re complete  _ idiots-- _ ” they’re interrupted by the lecture starting to begin, so Tsukishima just pushes up his glasses and remarks wryly, “It’s impossible to get any sleep around there, or even any peace and quiet.” 

And then, Yamaguchi gets an impulse. It’s an impulse that finds its way from his head to his mouth and to coherent words, and before he knows it he’s saying, “Do you want to come over to my dorm after class? We could go over this class notes, and it’d be completely quiet because my roommate is usually with his boyfriend--”

But then Yamaguchi clamps his mouth shut, because he and Tsukishima may be friends (or enhanced acquaintances) but maybe they’re not  _ that  _ close, and even if he’s not intimidated by him anymore he can’t help but feel a bit of a flutter of embarrassment in his stomach. Apparently Tsukishima is liked by a lot of girls on campus, and Yamaguchi can kind of see why, it’s hard to get words out---

“Or you could just go to the library.” he finished weakly. But Tsukishima shakes his head. 

“One of them works at the library. They’ll find me there.” and then his mouth quirks up in what could almost be considered a smile, and Yamaguchi takes that as a yes. 

Of course, he becomes slightly more concerned later on in the class when Tsukishima, while searching through his bag, finds a can of Monster and, after muttering some more about his roommates, pours it directly into his thermos, before chugging the whole thing. He’s either completely mad or someone who’s going to have a heart attack in the next hour and either way, Yamaguchi has invited him to his apartment. 

But he finds that it doesn’t really matter as Tsukishima continues to drink his death concoction and rolls his eyes periodically throughout the lecture, because for the first time he feels as though he’s really talking to a friend. 

* * *

“So, about what we went over in class today… I’m still not sure I get this graph…” Yamaguchi chews absent-mindedly on the eraser of his pencil, before sneaking a quick glance over at Tsukishima. “Oh! Sorry about the mess in here…. It’s not really mine though…”

“It’s fine,” Tsukishima says, before adding, “It’s all on that side of the room, anyway.” 

“Yeah, well…” Yamaguchi looks over to Hinata’s side of the (very small) dorm room, which consists of an unmade bed, half-open textbooks, and a volleyball placed reverently upon the desk where his study materials should be. Yamaguchi doesn’t consider himself an organized person; his mother often had to nag him to clean up around the house, but rooming with someone as messy as Hinata has somehow made him feel an obligation to be as clean as possible. “As long as it stays over there.”

“At least sharing an apartment gives us more space,” Tsukishima muses. “Though my roomates still find a way to get their dirty socks on my bed…. Of course, it’s probably on purpose…”

“Oh, that’s right.” Yamaguchi says, setting his pencil on top of his binder. “How is it that you’re a freshman but you’re rooming off campus with a bunch of upperclassmen?”   
“They’re friends from school, we played against each other a couple times,” Tsukishima says casually. “It was cheaper than room and board, so…”

“But… you said they can be a handful…”

“Oh, sure.” Tsukishima smiles in a way that makes Yamaguchi’s earlier fear of him feel justified. 

“But normally, I just lock them out of the apartment.”

“You know, sometimes I consider doing the same.” Yamaguchi says, knowing full well that he would never lock Hinata out of his dorm, since he’d never hear the end of it and they’d be in major trouble with the RA. And, well, Hinata’s not that bad of a roommate, despite his chronic untidiness and impossible energy levels in the morning. 

And the fact that he can apparently be summoned by word alone. Because the very moment that Yamaguchi speaks, Hinata comes bursting through the door, but it’s not just him-- he has his tall, grumpy, and thoroughly pissed off looking boyfriend in tow. 

“So you  _ really  _ don’t think I can hold the volleyball in my mouth for five minutes?” Hinata argues, tossing his bookbag onto the floor without a second thought. “I hope you brought that ten dollars!”

“Dumbass, I told you, it won’t even fit in your mouth!” Kageyama says, striding angrily after Hinata. “Three baseballs won’t even fit in my mouth, I tried it. There’s no way.”

“Baseballs and volleyballs are  _ different. _ Oh, hey Yamaguchi!” Hinata calls over his shoulder as he retrieves the volleyball from his desk. 

“Hey, Yamaguchi,” Kageyama adds, before looking over to Tsukishima beside him. His eyes widen, and pointing an accusing finger he says, “It’s you!”

“It’s who?” Yamaguchi asks. 

“Him-- we’re in a class together-- he pushed me down the stairs the other day!” Kageyama narrows his eyes, looking even more sullen than he usually does. 

“Oh, you mean when you tripped over air and fell down the stairs?” Tsukishima conceals a snicker. 

“Now, now--”

“Anyways, what are you doing here?” Hinata interrupts, clearly not having followed the conversation thus far. “Are you and Yamaguchi…. You know….”

“We just have a class together!” Yamaguchi says frantically, before his over-imaginative roommate manages to alienate Tsukishima completely. “We’re studying.”

“Riiiight.” Hinata narrows his eyes, but he can’t seem to find any reason to doubt them, so instead he holds the volleyball to his chest and says, “Well, Kageyama and I are going to go to the courtyard, so you guys have fun! I’ll let you know if the volleyball manages to last all five minutes.”

And with that, the two of them are gone again. The door slams and Yamaguchi tries to search for explanation but finding none, finally says, “They’re always like that. Really.”

“I believe it.” Tsukishima says. “Well, they seem perfect for each other at least…”

“They are.” Yamaguchi replies, and for just a second he feels a twinge of jealousy-- for all of his searching, he hasn’t found anyone who complements him in the same way Kageyama does Hinata. They’re always perfectly in sync, even when it’s for something stupid like trying to eat a volleyball-- Yamaguchi can’t say he doesn’t envy that kind of closeness.

But then Tsukishima is tapping on his paper, complaining on how he couldn’t understand that day’s lesson because he was too tired, and all he has is what’s beside him, even if he’s not quite sure if they’re friends or acquaintances or somewhere in between. 

* * *

“It’s coming back to me now,” Tsukishima says. They pass under a streetlight and the reflected glare off of his glasses is nearly blinding. “I don’t think that was too bad.”

“I was seriously worried you were going to die.” Yamaguchi sighs. “I mean, Monster and straight black coffee? That’s a recipe for a heart attack.”

“You already gave me a heart attack.” Tsukishima says, totally deadpan, and when Yamaguchi doesn’t reply, he glances away. “You know. Because of how cute you were.”

“You still completely suck at flirting!” Yamaguchi says with a laugh, before grabbing onto Tsukishima’s hand. They can’t lace fingers because they’re both wearing mittens, but he holds on tight anyway. “Of course, I wasn’t any better.”

“We’re getting there,” Tsukishima says, but he at least has the dignity to look a little bit embarrassed before continuing. “But besides that, I can’t believe you were jealous of Hinata and Kageyama.”

“Okay, you have to admit that they have something special.”

“Only two idiots would be able to understand each other so completely.”

“You’re not wrong, but whatever they’re doing must be working. And remember, at the time we weren’t even dating. You can forgive me for wanting a relationship, no matter how weird.”

“I suppose.” Tsukishima says. “Still, I think that was a cute enough ‘meeting’ story. Not as good as Kiyoko and Yachi, but that would be hard to beat. And our first date was also pretty romantic, so what more can you ask for?” 

“Our first date?” 

“Don’t tell me you don’t remember.” Tsukishima looks over the rims of his glasses disapprovingly. “Really, Yamaguchi…”

“Sorry! It just feels so long ago...”

“And the first time we went to your apartment doesn’t?” Tsukishima says dryly, but he clears his throat anyways. “Well, if I recall correctly…”

* * *

 

 

“I guess I should tell you…” Tsukishima says the moment they walk into the shelter, suddenly overcome with apprehension. “This isn’t exactly a normal place for dates… But like I said, my brother volunteers here sometimes, and I’ve gone with him, so…”

He doesn’t know why he’s suddenly so nervous, except for the fact that he’s never been on a date, at least not with a person he liked even half as much as Yamaguchi. Also, it was his suggestion in the first place, even if Yamaguchi was the first to confess, so he feels as though he has an obligation to make their first date absolutely perfect. And suddenly the ideas of traipsing through a place reeking of wet fur and dog food doesn’t seem like such a good idea. 

But to his relief, Yamaguchi doesn’t look disappointed at all. Rather, his eyes are shining brighter than the stars as he looks about the shelter, probably trying to take it all in at once. “You said your brother volunteers here?”

“Yeah, and he took me along enough that everybody here knows who I am.” Tsukishima walks alongside Yamaguchi, hands shoved in pockets, more nervous than he’s willing to let on. “They even said we could take some of the dogs for a walk, if we want.”

Yamaguchi’s head whips around so quickly they nearly smack into each other.  _ “Really?” _

“Yeah. Of course, some of them are a little more… energetic than the others.”

“I can see that.” Yamaguchi says as he crouches down in front of a cage, offering his hand for the dog inside to sniff. “Ah, so she’s called Honey…”

“She is very sweet,” Tsukishima remarks as he crouches down beside Yamaguchi. The latter casts a sideways glance at him as he does so. “She can be a bit yippy though…”

“Are you a dog person, Tsukki?” 

“We did have one growing up.” Tsukishima isn’t sure when Yamaguchi started using his nickname but there’s something so endearing about the way he says it that he decides not to comment on it. “So I guess you could say I am.”

“You seem like you’d be a cat person, though…”

“Somehow I get that a lot.” Tsukishima says flatly. “What, is it my personality?”

“Oh, I didn’t mean it like that!” Yamaguchi says, laughing slightly. Honey licks at his fingers and he reaches through the wire to give her head a gentle pat. “Although from what I know of cats, you seem like you’d make a good one.” 

“I don’t know about that,” Tsukishima says, but Yamaguchi has already moved on Honey’s cage and is crouching by the next one, excitedly petting the large black dog inside. 

“His name is Noodle!” he calls out excitedly. “Who comes up with these, Tsukki?”

“Typically the person who brings them in,” Tsukishima says, letting Noodle nose at his hand as well. “He’s an older dog, so he’s very calm.”

“He seems that way.” Yamaguchi says. “They’re all so cute… how am I going to choose which one to walk?”

“You have your pick of the litter.” Tsukishima says, gesturing to all of the other cages. “No pun intended.”

“It’s going to be hard.” Yamaguchi sighs, and it is. Tsukishima wagers that they spend the bulk of the afternoon going around petting each individual dog and chatting with the other shelter volunteers. He’d known that Yamaguchi liked animals, which is why he suggested the shelter for their first date, but he had no idea that he this enthusiastic-- and when he jokingly suggests Yamaguchi switch to a veterinary major, he admits that he had actually been considering it, which makes Tsukishima feel even more validated in his choice of date location. And he doesn’t even mind that Yamaguchi spends more time admiring the dogs than he does Tsukishima, since he gets so into it it’s adorable. By the time they’re strolling down the street with a leash in each hand and the wind stirring the cold air around them, he’s prepared to call the whole affair a success, and he hopes Yamaguchi thinks so, too.

* * *

 

 

“Oh, of course I remember that!” Yamaguchi says, swinging Tsukishima’s hand a bit as they walk. “We should go again, we haven’t been in awhile.”

“If we do that, we’ll have to set aside a whole day,” Tsukishima teases. “And even that might not be enough.”

“They’re just all so cute, Tsukki.” Yamaguchi says tearfully. “And besides, since I do want to be a veterinarian now, just consider it an extension of my lessons.”

“So would you say that’s what made you finally decide to become a vet?”

“It’s possible.”

“Well, you’re welcome for that.”

“Don’t get too full of yourself,” Yamaguchi says, nudging Tsukishima a bit with his shoulder. The air is so cold he’s been watching the sky all night, waiting for snow to fall. “But you did help me with that, at least.”

For awhile they walk on in silence, reminiscing mostly done with. The quiet is only broken when Tsukishima slows his pace, staring at the sky like Yamaguchi had been doing only moments earlier. “It’s been two years since we first met.”

“It seems like a long time, doesn’t it?” Yamaguchi smiles slightly. “But when you really think about it, it really isn’t. Two years since we used to sit next to each other without really talking...”

“Well, I’m really glad I mixed that Monster and coffee.”

“Clearly you aren’t, or you would’ve actually remembered it.”

“No, really.” Tsukishima says, and he’s not smiling, or laughing, but instead is just staring at Yamaguchi with an expression that could almost be described as intense. Tsukishima can act aloof a lot of the time, and he certainly plays his cards close to his chest, so easy it’s easy to forget that he’s actually a very serious person. But when he gives Yamaguchi his full attention like this, with such piercing eyes, he feels like he’s carrying some sort of immense weight-- the weight of Tsukishima’s gaze. 

And then he feels the snowflakes.

“Tsukki-- it’s finally snowing!” he says, and the moment is broken, but it’s okay, because Tsukishima just grips his hand harder and lets out an exhale of breath. 

“I guess it is.”

“We should get home quickly.”

“Let’s go, then.” he replies, and the two of them continue on into the night.


End file.
